Michael Bisping has put his name firmly in the pot for a future fight with Anderson Silva, insisting he would have provided much more of a challenge than Chael Sonnen managed at UFC 148.

Sonnen made endless promises about what he would do to the middleweight champion on Saturday but, despite having a huge opportunity when he mounted Silva in round one, the American walked away with a second-round TKO defeat.

Not for the first time, Silva is running out of genuine contenders to his crown, but Bisping is adamant his more-rounded game would give him a better chance than Sonnen. Acknowledging Sonnen's excellent wrestling capabilities, Bisping pointed out that it is an ability to mix things up that is needed against Silva.

"It's easy to say 'take Anderson Silva down,'" Bisping said on Fuel TV. "Chael is an amazing wrestler - he went to the Olympics I think. Not everybody can do that.

"I'm not that level of wrestler. I can wrestle a little bit, but I'm not Chael Sonnen. But, I can kickbox [much] better than Chael Sonnen can. I won't get knocked out in the second round like Chael Sonnen did. That's a fact.

"You're a fool to bet against Anderson. He's amazing. For me, personally, I want to fight the guy because I want to see how I can do against him. I've beat a lot of guys, but I want to fight that guy. I think I can do better. And I'm never going to know that until I get in there with him.

"Yes, I want to fight him. Yes, I want to get paid for a title shot. Yes, I want the main event. I want all that. For me, personally, for my mind and soul, I want to fight the guy just to know how I would do. I think I can do better than Chael Sonnen did. In fact, I know I can do better than what Chael Sonnen did."